Improvement in windmills



J. P. CATHCART.

y WIND-MILL.

No.18vZ,1v0l3. Patented S ept.12,1876.

n....mm 1 www WMM i W@ IUlv'rnu :STATES or plan view of a collapsible vane. .a top view of the bearing atthe top of the PATENT' OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WINDMILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 182,103, dated September 12, i876; application led J une 12. 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN, P. OATHGART, of

La Porte, inthe county of La Porte and State of Indiana, have invented certain Improveyments in Windmills, `is a specification: description of my invention 'v will be sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enof which the following The following able those skilled in the art to practice the same, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this .specication,and in which- Figure 1 is a side view of -the mill.` Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig. 3 is a top Fig. 4t is tower. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section of the .said bearing, te.

Like letters of reference made use of in the sam; figures, indicate.r like parts wherever use In the saiddrawing, A represents the tower which sustainsthe pliances. the form shown lin the drawing, where cheap- .ness is desired. To the central block or tim- Vber B is tted a base-piece, B', projecting to the rear, to aiford a support for the weight- 1lever, Sto., and at each surface of the timber B, are fittedthe bearing or pillow blocks B B, which afford bearings ,for the main shaft G. These several partsthe timbers B and B and the pillow. blocks B",are all held together by four throughbolts, b, which also serve to fasten theV caps .upon the shaft-bearings. These bolts b, it will be seen, pass entirely through from the caps to the under surface ofthe base-piece B. 4Upon thetop of the tower is 'affixed a bearing-plate, D, which is provided with the hol- .low pivot d,A upon which the carriage turns.

` revolving carriage upon .which is mountedthe wind-wheel and its ap- This carriage I prefer to make of end, upon the upper:

FF, the saine being hinged in the median or central line of each sail, so that the sail is in a measure 4balanced to the wind, and free to swing in or out' of the breeze, without 'great resistance. lA sliding head is fitted to the shaft, and it consists of two plates, G Gr', one of which, G, is tted to the shaft in the rear of the masts,`and the other G in front of the masts, and the two plates are connected together by screw-bolts g-one bolt for each sail.

Pivoted to the masts are the levers H H H H, for operating the sails, the outer end of the lever being connected, by a rod, h, to an eyebolt in the edgeof the sail, while the'inner end of the lever has an eye or socket which surrounds one of the screw-bolts g, and is secured thereto by a lock-nut, h. h', at each side, bythe use of which thelever may be set forward or back, to adjust the position of lthe sail to the wind.

It will be seen that, by reason of these levers H, a forward motion of the sliding head will, operating through the levers, throw 'the sails edge to or out of the wind, while a motion to the rear'will be attended with theop- -posite effect. A f Attached to the rear plate of this sliding head are rods z', which connect to the pendulum or vertical lever I, fulcrumedy in the base B and provided with a weight, I", thetendency of which is, by the connnections just described, to keep the sails full in the wind.

To the advanced edge of the sail I apply a vane, J, which is intendedto assist in the government of the mill. These vanes, standing out across the line of'motion of the sails, meet the resistance of the air, and tend to assist in throwing the sails out of the windthat is `to say, when the sails are fully in the wind these vanes are carried with their broadside against the body of air in thel revolution of the wheel, and, as a consequence, exert a tendency to swing the sails out of the wind", and

at the same time, and by the same impulse, to

swing themselves into line withthe motion.

In the absence of any other governor, these vanes,acting in conjunction with the weight,

racy.

As yan additional governor, acting in conjunction with the vanes just described, or

which may act in the absence of the vanes, apply to the front of the shaft a small wind- 'wheel, K, having the normal plane of its vanes at the Vopposite angle to that of the large wheel. This small wheel isi mounted upon a hub, k, which revolves upon avv prolongation of the main shaft, said prolongation L being cut with a spiral groove or screwthread of long pitch, so that, as the small wheel is turned by the wind, it travels back upon the shaft, and drives back the sliding head, thus turning the sails of the large wheel out of the wind.

This force of the small wheel is, of course, eX-y erted against the weight I', and this weight, actingthrough the sliding head, will, as the wind dies down, set the small wheel out again by the pressure of the sliding head and set the sails of the large wheel again into the wind. The small wheel, of course, will only turn when the wind is strong enough to overcome and raise the weight, which is the measure of the government.

Acting in conjunction with each and both of the above governing contrivances, and capablev also of acting in the absence of either vor both, as might be necessary in case the others get out of order, as an additional assistance to the government of the mill, I make the tail-vane of the mill in two parts, or, in vother words, make two separate similar tailvanes, M M, which are pivoted by arms tothe carriage, and are connected to each other by a toggle-lever, m, the center of which is attached to the pendulum or weight-lever I. yThese tail-vanes stand at an angle to the wind at each side, and, as the breeze rises, it com presses them together, raising thereby the weight, and throwing back the sliding head, which relieves the sails. The weight acts to return the vanes to their spread position as theI wind dies away. Theweight-lever being, as before stated, connected to the sliding head, the effect of thevcompression of the vanes is vto operate the sails, and govern their position inthe wind. It will thus be seen that there are in this lInill three different governing contrivances, which all act jointly to govern the sails, any one of which, however, may act alone in the absence or disability ofthe others. v The vaxies M are suspended upon the hing at and the guy-rods o, the latter being connected from a point on the vaneto the bolts b'. Bysetting the hinges n nearer together, so that the weight ofthe vane acting upon the guy-rods will have a tendency to swing them apart, the weight I may be lessened, or, if s lilifcient power is thus gained, dispensed wit A From the rear plate of the sliding head projects toward the tower a rod, p, which, passing through and finding a bearing in one of the pillow-blocks Bv, is connected byashort A chain, q, which passes over a pulley, r, tothe vertical wire "or rod s, which descendsside `by side with the pitman P,'rand playsthrough a hole cut through the screw-threaded portion thereof, by the means of which the pump-rod splice-piece is attached to said pitman. This arrangement centers the rod s and prevents it from twisting'around the pitman as the mill swings around to face the wind. By means of this rod thevsails may be thrown into and out of the wind by hand. 1

The splice-piece t swivels on the pitman, and is held by a nut abovel and below. The screw-thread ed part, which receives this swiveling-piece, is pierced as above stated. This affords a very simple and inexpensive method of centering the rod s. v 'I The main shaft C I make square, forging 1t of a square bar, and only round the bearingpoints. This ai'ords a sure means of mounting the sliding head, vso that the rear plate thereof will be held from turning the collar u,

by which it is connected to the rods i.V The v collar u slides upon asquare portion vof the shaft. v 1

Having thus described the constructionand operation of myimproved windmill, that which I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

.1.' The small governor-wheel mounted on va screw-shaft in line with the main shaft, `and connected to thevsails of the mill, in' the manner specified. 'f

2. The combination, with thesliding head, consisting of two separate plates placed one at each side of the hub ofthe mainwheel, of screw-rods running from plate to plate, and of the eyebolt-rods for controlling the sails which are threaded upon the screw-rods, and also the lock-nuts on said screw-rods for locking` the said controlling-rods in positlon, as specified. Y v

3. The combination with the sails, of the small vanes placed at the edge` thereof, and standing broadside to the line of-rotation, whereby the motion ofv the vmill is caused to act as a governor, substantially as speclfied.

`4. The means employed to throw vthe sails out of gear, consisting of a rod which passes straight back from the slidinghead, anda flexible chain connected to said rod and passing over a pulley, below which it is attached to the vertical hand-rod, substantially as specied. I

5. The means employed for centering and supporting the vertical hand-rod, consisting of the combination of said, rod with the pitman, said pitman being provided with the en larged perforated screw threadedV portion, throughwhich said'rod is threaded, andwhich sustains the swiveling pump-rod connection, substantially as specified. c ,1

6. The carriage, composed'of; the timbers B and B', and the pillow-blocks'B,"al1 held together by the through-bolts @substantially as specified. Y v f 7. The combination, with the carriage, and

with the' conical bearing or pivot upon which the carriage turns at the tower-top, of a raised lip or rim on the at bearing or base encircling said pivot-cone at a little distance therefrom, as and for the purpose specified.

8. The combination of the sails, the masts,

l and the sail-operating levers, the latter pivoted directly to the masts, substantially as specied.

9. The combination of the small governorwheel, the large Wheel, and sails, with the vanes placed upon the edge thereof, the co1- lapsible tail-vane, the Weighted lever, `the sliding head, and its connections, whereby the united effect of three governors acting in conjunction is produced upon the mill, sub-V stantially as specified.

JOHN P. CATH()ART.y

Witnesses:

ABRAM P. ADREW, P. RANDERsoN. 

